Hawaii 'Resort Bubble' Program

Hawaii COVID-19 'Resort Bubble' Program

What we know about Hawaii's EMQ program for quarantined visitors

Kauai has an Enhanced Movement Quarantine 'Resort Bubbles' program

'Safe Travels' has concluded as of March 26th for domestic U.S. travelers 

According to Governor Ige, the state of Hawaii will drop the current 'Safe Travels' program for domestic U.S. travelers at midnight on March 25, 2022.

That now means as of March 26th, domestic travelers to Hawaii will no longer need to fill out online forms via Safe Travels, no longer have to worry about QR codes, no longer have to provide proof of vaccination, and ultimately, there won't be any additional requirements or restrictions to fly to Hawaii on a domestic flight.

More information, including all travel advisories, and the steps for international travels can be found on our Hawaii Travel Updates page.

All of the following information is now for historical purposes only!

Visiting Hawaii in 2021 is obviously a lot different than the years prior. With 10-day quarantine travel restrictions in place for all arriving travelers since late March 2020, attempting to visiting Hawaii has been filled with challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. But there is some positive news for visitors planning to arrive while an island's quarantine period remains in effect. Kauai's Mayor announced in September 2020 an "Enhanced Movement Quarantine," or "Resort Bubble," program approved by Hawaii Gov. David Ige.

Kauai was the first county to receive Governor Ige’s approval on a resort bubble idea and is the only island currently participating with the resort bubble plan at this time; primarily due to Kauai's Mayor opting out of the pre-travel program beginning this past December 2, 2020. In our opinion, the additional Hawaii counties likely won't follow suit, and will all continue participating in the state's official pre-travel testing program from trusted partners that began in October 2020. Details on the program and a list of participating hotels are included below.

Resort Bubble Program Option on Kauai

As of April 5, 2021, Kauai has rejoined the Safe Travels program which requires a negative PCR NAAT test from a Trusted Travel Partner 72 hours prior to departure and must be uploaded into Safe Travels. In the event someone has taken the wrong test, there is an option with Resort Bubble properties.

Kauai has an Enhanced Movement Quarantine "resort bubble" (see below for participating properties) program which accepts any COVID-19 diagnostic test (antigen or PCR test) with emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This is an option for travelers who arrive with a test that is FDA approved but not approved by the State of Hawaii’s Safe Travels program. Travelers must stay on the Resort Bubble property for 72 hours or more until they take a post-travel test. If you arrive with no pre-travel test you cannot participate in the Resort Bubble program and will have to quarantine for 10 days or leave the state.

Editor's Note...

Hawaii's re-opening has honestly been an evolving process with numerous changes and ongoing updates. We recognize that this, unfortunately, causes confusion to potential travelers, and we are continuing to monitor this situation closely. We will provide additional pertinent vaccination updates here regularly, from official sources, on this page as additional information becomes available to us. We also encourage our readers to sign up for our 'Hawaii Travel Update' emails to receive pertinent information on all of the recent developments regarding travel to Hawaii, including Hawaii 'Resort Bubble' updates.

Additionally, we've created a new page dedicated to the day-by-day updates that are occurring with Hawaii's reopening process: Hawaii COVID-19 Travel News & Headlines →